GA-SEN: Georgia gov expected to tap finance exec for US Senate next week

[RandySF]

Gov. Brian Kemp plans to tap financial executive Kelly Loeffler for a U.S. Senate seat next week as he pushes to expand the Georgia GOP’s appeal to women who have fled the party in recent years.

The appointment would defy President Donald Trump and other Republican leaders who have repeatedly urged the governor to appoint U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a four-term congressman who is one of the president’s staunchest defenders in Washington.

It would end months of jockeying for the seat to be vacated by Republican Johnny Isakson, who is stepping down at year’s end because of health issues. Loeffler would be the second woman in Georgia history to serve in the U.S. Senate.

The governor is expected to announce Loeffler’s appointment at a press conference early next week, barring any last-minute change of heart, several senior GOP officials told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclusively. Kemp’s office declined to comment Friday.

Her appointment would do little to tamp down the internal Republican fighting over the seat. Trump and his allies have repeatedly pressed the governor to tap Collins, and the two were still at odds over Loeffler’s appointment even after Kemp brought her to a secretive meeting with the president last week.



https://www.ajc.com/blog/politics/georgia-gov-expected-tap-finance-exec-senate-next-week/qDibvzRR0L6VvyUmjnB1QJ/

[aikoaiko]

1. Kelly Loeffler is a very interesting choice for Kemp.

If she can campaign in public, she'll be a difficult foe.

[Blue_true]

2. Let's hope the she does a Martha McSally and corkscrew herself up Trump's ass

to try to get elected. That will tell the Surburban women to stay away from her.

If she is smart enough to keep Trump at a distance, with her youth and profile, she would be tough to beat. Her state is changing toward being more progressive, if she play things right she could serve for a while as a moderate republican that is not scary to women.